Development | finding yourself

The 13th century mystic poet Rumi speaks to our hearts, even to this day. So how do we find ourselves, using guidance from the Enneagram?

Enneagram OnesLook what is underneath your need to be right: to do things right, to be right, to look right, and to know the right way? This will guide you to your real self.

Enneagram TwosLook underneath your need to be needed, to help others but not yourself, to be important to important people or groups, and to be utterly blameless in almost all circumstances? This will guide you to your real self.

Enneagram ThreesLook underneath your need to plan what is going to happen before it has even occurred, your need to always be at top performance and to never fail, and your reluctance to completely share what you think and feel? This will guide you to your real self.

Enneagram FoursLook underneath the feelings that you experience to find your deep reactions, to explore the possibility that you are beautifully human with flaws and foibles, and that being accepted is so terribly important that you are looking for it – or the lack of it – everywhere? This will guide you to your real self.

Enneagram FivesLook underneath your mind and go into your heart and your body. Explore what happens when you stay connected instead of disconnected or when you isolate yourself or when you believe that the mind is superior to emotions and physical experience. This will guide you to your real self.

Enneagram SixesLook underneath your fears, anxieties, self-doubt, boldness, and your reliance on those you think know more than you do or whose advice you continuously seek. This will guide you to your real self.

Enneagram EightsLook underneath your need to be big, strong, potent, invulnerable, and demonstrations of being able to take charge of big things and move mountains. This will guide you to your real self.

EnneagramNinesLook underneath your calm, relaxed exterior, your easy-going disposition and temperate emotionality, and your uncanny ability to draw out the ideas of others, but leave your own ideas until the last. This will guide you to your real self.

Ginger Lapid-Bogda PhD, the author of seven Enneagram-business books, is a speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach. She provides certification programs and training tools for business professionals around the world who want to bring the Enneagram into organizations with high-impact business applications, and is past-president of the International Enneagram Association. Visit: TheEnneagramInBusiness.com | ginger@theenneagraminbusiness.com